I was directed to the blog of The Fat Cyclist recently. He had a typical story of being ignored by snobby aloof mountain bikers while hoofing a flat tire that couldn't be repaired. While I empathized, I really didn't hold much sympathy as he _had_ a spare tube but due to some sense of misplaced pride couldn't bring himself to put a tube in a tubeless rim/tire setup.
Anyways, I came across this comment to the post by someone named 'orbea girl':
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Recently, I stopped to assist someone with a puncture. The elderly gentleman was somewhat apologetic that a woman had come to his rescue until I pointed out that I wasn’t going to change his wheel, oh no, the next bloke to come round the corner was going to do it. I sent him off behind the bush with my bike and waited. Within no time at all, six blokes came around the corner, halted, leapt off their bikes and proceeded to change the wheel. As they took their leave, the youngest member of the sextet gave me back the bike. He looked at me and then looked at the bike and said “This isn’t your bike, is it?”. “Well spotted”, I replied. “It belongs to the old chap behind the bush, no one stopped to assist him, so I decided to give him a helping hand. I do know how to mend a puncture but I have never, ever had to do it because Frenchmen are so chivalrous.
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Well, there you have it. I think I'm rather fortunate in this aspect, 1) because I can fix my own bike, and 2) I'm getting to be old enough where young girls will take pity on me with 'oh, you poor little skinny old bald guy', and have their boyfriends fix my bike, since they no longer see me as a threat.
Anyways, the gist of the story was that Fat Cyclist got passed by two riders who offered no assistance. No surprise there, I've found mtbrs to be way more snobby and aloof that road riders, but that may be just cause I'm snobby and aloof.
The underlying lesson here is to NEVER ride tubeless without carrying a spare tube. The risk that you'll never be able to get the bead seated back on the rim to form the seal simply isn't worth the waste of time.
Laslty, this guy Fat Cyclist has like 75 to 100 comments on each of his posts, damn.......
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5 comments:
yeah he was a dumbass for not using the tube in the first place...
rule of fixing flat - always check the size of hole before doing anything else...
still...
being a dick and not stopping to offer assistance is just not cool...
yeah - i pretty much fix my own shit all the time... try never to even commute w/o having the shit to get me home if i have a flat on the trailer or the bike...
but there was once when someone offered to help and I needed it - it was much appreciated (i'd blown through what I had and anyway long story)... saving someone from a long ride home is a good thing... hell even if ya don't have anything to fix the shit, at least checking to make sure they aren't bleeding out somewhere that you can't see from behind...
i dunno - just fucked up that's all... Fatty's momentary stupidity doesn't diminish the jackassses jackassedness of passing w/o offering aid... in my poorly written short book
Would it make you feel better if I left 75 comments on this post?
GW, Yes, not stopping is the epitome of arrogant rude biker. But I'm prepared for it, I _never_ expect it.
Solo, Thanks for your patronization, but I prefer to keep it real. Besides, can you image what kind of bizzarro world it would be if I had 75 friends? scary thought.
My mother in law, an avid cyclist for over 50 years, cannot fix a flat. She carries all the stuff. Has no idea what to do with it.
When she was young her dad or a fellow from the club would always fix it for her. Now her husband, daughter, son in law, or kind stranger does the work.
She is a smart, tech savvy, independent little old lady but just refuses to master the task. I tried to teach her and a few of the hens in the club how to fix a flat a few years ago at an après ride party and they just wandered off to get more wine….
There was a girl in my old club who used to give my bike a lavish cleaning in return for my gluing her tires. I found this refreshing, as well as reasonably equitable. Better than a lick and a (unfulfilled) promise...
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